OPM Retirement Backlog Slashed by Over 5% in February

Fewer incoming retirement claims than in past years and faster processing times helped slash the OPM retirement backlog in February 2023.

The OPM retirement backlog dropped by nearly 5.5% last month, going from 24,858 at the end of January to 23,500 at the end of February 2023.

The Office of Personnel Management also dramatically improved processing times in February, taking only 65 days on average to process retirement claims. In January, the figure was 93 days, so this is an improvement of 30%.

OPM received 9,562 new retirement claims last month, 23% fewer than in January (12,404). It processed 10,920 claims in February, thereby allowing OPM to cut the backlog down to 23,500, a reduction of 1,358 claims over January.

Despite last month’s progress on the OPM retirement backlog, it still remains at a higher level than it has been in past years and is well above OPM’s stated goal of 13,000. In 2020 for instance, the backlog got down to 17,432 in June, and in June 2017 it was 14,530.

February is normally the second busiest month of the year for incoming retirement claims at the Office of Personnel Management, second only to January. However, February 2023 turned out to be less busy than in some past years in terms of incoming retirement claims. The table below shows how February 2023 compares to past years. Click HERE to read more.